Toilet paper is found in bathrooms all around the world. It is typically dispensed from a wall-mounted axle affixed near the commode. But toilet paper has more uses that just sanitary; for example, it can be used as a facial tissue. Thus, it is valuable to have a portable toilet paper dispenser that can be used anywhere, not just by the commode.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,972 describes a toilet paper storage device which can be used for storing or dispensing rolls of toilet paper. The device has a cover and a base. The base can be positioned against a vertical wall and the cover can either be slidingly removed or pivotally displaced from the base in order to gain access to the interior of the device. The device can incorporate a raised flat panel which is formed in the sidewall of the cover. The raised flat panel can be gripped with a single hand and facilitates ease of use by the elderly or a child.
Several publications describe a center-feed toilet paper dispenser, where the center tube has been removed and the toilet paper is drawn from the center of the roll, for example, WO199825848, U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,274 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,362.
What is lacking is a simple device for dispensing a rolled product, such as toilet paper, from the top of the device by unrolling the rolled product, avoiding the inconvenience and difficulty of removing the center tube from a rolled product before dispensing.